Irrigation movers are and for some time have been commercially available from a number of sources. Each comprises a frame upon which a drive motor is centrally mounted, adjacent to a transversely disposed, wheel carried irrigation pipe. Each irrigation mover also comprises a pair of wheels located at each end of the frame. A drive train comprising gears driven by the motor and fore and aft drive chains which are gear displaced and in turn drive the wheel pairs through sprockets.
The chains are elongated and extend from beneath the motor several feet fore and aft to wheel pairs so as to be atmospherically exposed. Thus, as the nozzles of the irrigation pipe release water, the spray is liberally deposited continuously upon the drive chains, among other things.
The continuous, long-term exposure to the irrigation spray causes certain deleterious effects to the drive chains, including but not limited to rust, calcium corrosion and loss of lubrication. As a consequence, the chains no longer turn frequently around sprockets and gears and breakage is common, resulting in a shortening of useful life of the drive chains and down time which interrupts irrigation at times when plants are in need of water. The above mentioned problem of water damage to the drive trains has been a long-standing problem.